Methods of this type for distributing energy and home energy management systems (HEMS) of this type are already known from the prior art. Renewable energies which make varying energy quantities available over time are subsidized on energy policy grounds. The energy quantities generated in this way are fed into the power grid, whereby the available energy is governed by prices that vary over time. Electric vehicles furthermore benefit from government subsidies in many countries on environmental policy grounds. The situation therefore arises wherein different energy quantities are offered at different prices over time and consumers in some instances require substantially differing energy quantities over time. Thus, for example, a charging electric vehicle requires large quantities of energy over a lengthy period, while a hairdryer requires only small amounts of energy and for only a short period of time, whereas a home air conditioning system for its part continuously requires slightly fluctuating energy quantities. Furthermore, some consumers themselves possess energy sources, for example photovoltaic systems, which can provide varying energy quantities over time.
It is therefore known that home energy management systems distribute the available energy quantities among energy consumers according to specific criteria. These known criteria include, inter alia, a strict prioritization; thus, for example, a home air conditioning system always takes priority over a charging electric vehicle. Alternatively, it is known to distribute the available energy quantities equally among all energy consumers. Finally, it is similarly known to distribute the available energy quantities according to the “first come, first served” principle, i.e. the first requesting energy consumer is allocated the entire required energy and the remaining available energy quantity is distributed among the other energy consumers in the order of the requests. These methods have many disadvantages.
It may thus occur, for example, that a consumer is reliant on mobility at specific times and therefore the charging of his electric vehicle benefits from a high priority at one specific time, but not at another time, or that a home air conditioning system can also be operated with a reduced energy requirement when temperatures are mild, but not when temperatures are significantly higher or lower. In each of these cases, a central unit, which can also be implemented through software, decides alone on the distribution of the available energy quantities with no possibilities of being influenced by the energy consumers, and normally without knowing why an energy consumer requests a specific quantity of energy at a specific time or for what purpose it requires this energy.
In order to standardize the data exchange in home energy management systems of this type, international standards and protocols have been devised, for example SEP 2.0, EEBus or ISO 15118. However, these standards and protocols have a limited field of application and regulate the energy distribution through central control with a specified distribution logic according to the criteria explained above, i.e. without information relating to the conditions of the connected energy consumers being transferred to the central unit.